To date the empty bags, which are bundled in stacks of approximately 50 to 100 pieces, have been fed into the packaging machine using a chain conveyor. Here, the chain conveyor possesses bolts that serve as holders from which the stacks of bags are suspended. For this purpose, the bags are fitted on their opening side with a projecting bracket that has holes corresponding to the bolts. Via the chain conveyer, the stack of bags is fed into the packaging machine, where the bags are individually filled and pulled off from the stack. Should a stack be completely depleted, then the chain conveyor goes one cycle further and feeds the next stack of bags into the packaging machine.
Stocking the chain conveyor with new stacks of bags was until now always handled strictly manually, whereby, due to the high cycle number of the packaging machine, the operator already had to place the next stack on after only approximately 11/2 minutes. In the event a placement of two or more stacks of bags on the chain conveyor is possible, the time span between individual servicings is increased correspondingly. In order to ensure continuous operation of a packaging machine, an operator must therefore always attend the machine. Accordingly, an object of the invention is to decrease the manual labor pool on the packaging machine without, at the same time, increasing space requirements.